UI Business College Receives $25 Million Gift Commitment

Jerre Stead, a 1965 UI business graduate, and his spouse, Mary Joy Stead, have made a $25 million gift commitment to the UI's Henry B. Tippie College of Business to support a variety of programs and initiatives, college and UI Foundation officials announced today.

The Stead gift is among the largest ever received by the UI business school, second only to the $30 million gift commitment made by UI business graduate Henry B. Tippie in 1999.

The $25 million Stead commitment includes both outright and deferred support. Outright gifts totaling $1.4 million, to be paid over the next seven years, will be directed to the following projects within the college:

A new endowed faculty chair in leadership, to be named in honor of current dean Gary C. Fethke

Ongoing support for the Stead Technology Center, which provides computer services and related programming within the college

The Kloppenburg-Stead Speaker Series, which will bring prominent speakers to the college's Executive MBA program

Ongoing support for the College of Business Building Fund for continuing enhancement and maintenance of the John Pappajohn Business Building

An additional $2.5 million in annual gifts from the Steads, to be paid over 10 years, will be used to support the programs noted above, as well as other initiatives with the college. The balance of the Steads' gift, to be realized through their estate plans, will also be applied toward new and existing Tippie College of Business priorities.

"We are enormously grateful to Jerre and Mary Joy Stead for this extraordinary commitment, which will provide ongoing support for many of our key programs, far into the future," said Fethke. "We're equally thankful for the contributions Jerre has made of his time and expertise, serving as one of our most popular Executive MBA Program lecturers for many years. Coming from someone who knows us so well, this gift is not only an act of extreme generosity, but a strong vote of confidence in the quality of our students, faculty, staff, and programs."

Jerre and Mary Joy Stead, who reside in Scottsdale, Ariz., are natives of Maquoketa, Iowa, and both attended the UI. After earning his B.B.A. degree in industrial relations from Iowa, Jerre Stead began his career at Honeywell, Inc., leaving as group vice president in 1986 to become president and chief operating officer of the Square D Company. He joined AT&T in 1991; became C.E.O. of the Legent Company in 1995; and in 1996 became chairman and C.E.O. of Ingram Micro Inc., the world's largest distributor of technology products and services. He serves on numerous corporate boards, has co-authored two management textbooks, and is a frequent speaker on organizational vision and leadership.

"Mary Joy and I are both thrilled and humbled to be able to do something like this for a college and university that have meant so much in our lives," said Stead. "My long association with the Tippie College of Business has convinced me that we have a world-class program here, with students, faculty, staff and facilities equal to that of any business school in the country. If our contributions can help move Iowa further into national spotlight, enhancing the services that the UI provides to the state and beyond, then this will represent one of the best investments we've ever made. I'm looking forward to continuing my relationship with Iowa and watching the Tippie College of Business excel in the years ahead."

The Steads have been UI contributors for more than 20 years. Their past support, including gifts to the business school, the UI Alumni Association and Old Capitol, total approximately $1 million.

The Stead gift is part of the UI's $850 million comprehensive campaign, which will run through 2005 and is being conducted under the guidance of the UI Foundation. Named Good. Better. Best. Iowa: The Campaign to Advance Our Great University, the seven-year effort is raising private funds to help launch a variety of initiatives across the university, substantially increase the number of UI scholarships and endowed faculty positions, support new educational and research facilities, build the UI's endowment and fund outreach and service programs to benefit Iowans.